Frank Borzage enjoyed a long and successful Hollywood career first as a leading man and then as one of the cinema's great romantic directors, but is relatively neglected today; his fan base today being fairly small but ardently and deservedly devoted. In his prime Borzage was evidently held in esteem within the industry itself, as his two Oscars attest. Major achievements like 'Man's Castle', 'Little Man, What Now?', 'Three Comrades', The Mortal Storm' and 'Moonrise' still lay ahead when Borzage collected his second and last Oscar in a strong year in the face of competition from contemporaries of the calibre of Mervyn LeRoy, Ernst Lubitsch, Rouben Mamoulian, King Vidor, William A. Wellman and James Whale, just for starters.
So what was this trivial-sounding film that earned Borzage an accolade he never received again? Despite it's obvious contrivances (Eddie's boorish behaviour when they first meet should have promptly nipped any possibility of romance in the bud, would fantastically expensive top gynaecologist Dr. Burgess really have been such a soft touch?, and the happy 'ending' resolves nothing), Borzage works his magic with pretty thin material with the help of attractive players, particularly James Dunn, making his feature film debut. It's certainly easy to imagine that few at the time managed to get through it with dry eyes, and it's still worth your time today.
So what was this trivial-sounding film that earned Borzage an accolade he never received again? Despite it's obvious contrivances (Eddie's boorish behaviour when they first meet should have promptly nipped any possibility of romance in the bud, would fantastically expensive top gynaecologist Dr. Burgess really have been such a soft touch?, and the happy 'ending' resolves nothing), Borzage works his magic with pretty thin material with the help of attractive players, particularly James Dunn, making his feature film debut. It's certainly easy to imagine that few at the time managed to get through it with dry eyes, and it's still worth your time today.